After announcing a virtual avalanche of new Star Wars and Marvel series coming to the platform over the next two years, Disney+ revealed that it will be raising its subscription prices for the first time since the streaming service launched in November 2019. However, the good news is that the price increase is relatively small, and still makes Disney+ considerably cheaper than competitors like Netflix and HBO Max. (Disney owns Hulu, so that doesn’t really count.) Via Gizmodo:
U.S. subscribers can expect their monthly fee to jump from $7 to $8 starting on March 26, 2021. Disney’s package deal with Disney+, ad-supported Hulu, and ESPN+ will also increase from $13 to $14 a month. It wasn’t immediately clear whether subscribers in other countries can expect future price hikes for either Disney+ or the Disney Bundle.
The price increase also arrives on the heels of Disney+ hitting 86.8 million subscribers as of December 2. The company previously reported that it had 73.1 million subscribers as of October 3, so that’s a 13 million increase that can most likely be traced to the season two premiere of The Mandalorian, which has been a massive hit for the burgeoning streaming service.
As for the value to subscribers, the price increase will happen just as Disney+ finally starts to offer Marvel series after the pandemic pushed back the premieres of WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Those series will debut in January and March, respectively, with Tom Hiddleston’s Loki series following closely behind at an unspecified date. And judging by Disney’s numerous Investor Day announcements, the platform won’t be falling short on Marvel content anytime soon.
(Via Gizmodo)
